AIBU to think releasing a pet is cruel?

[SnailTrailtoFreedom]

We have a pet snail. He came to us on a lettuce leaf when he was so small his shell was translucent and he could fit on the nail of my little finger. He is now nearing the end of his life span. We are going on holiday in a couple of weeks and I haven't yet found someone to have him - our usual pet-sitters are themselves going away at the same time.

One member of the family (YABU) thinks we should release him into the nearby forest, or garden so he has a taste of freedom before he dies by being eaten by something

The other (YANBU) thinks this is cruel. He has been kept inside since he was a baby, his food and water falls from the sky and he sleeps outside of his shell. He wouldn't last a minute in the great outdoors. We could ask the neighbours, even if we don't know the parents all that well, the daughter plays out with and is in a class with my DC; or smuggle him into the hotel with us (travelling by car, not leaving the country). Or ask the hotel. He's in a box, he doesn't need to be taken out of it. But I don't know if snails like travelling?

It’s a garden snail.
circle of life etc, let him run (well, slither)free.
My dsis (devout Buddhist) collects them from her garden and releases into the park. She said the neighbours look at her funny when she says she is taking her snails to the park.

Oh how squishy and adorable is his baby picture. I could eat him all up😂.
No advice though sorry. I'm only here to coo at him.

lovely post. Sleeping snail pics please. Where are you in the UK?

How cruel and insensitive of you! Take in a wild creature and then chuck it out to fend for itself when it inconviences your life?? No, absolutely not, it will not survive 5 minuetes, it has adapted to human amd house life, it is a cruel act. You need to either find somebody, or take him with you. And next time think before messing with nature

I think it will be fine released into a shady spot in the garden.
In some ways, although he may live longer with you, it's cruel to deny him his rights, he might want a sex life for example!

The kindest thing would be to take it with you.

@katkit

Probably far safer in her garden!

he might want a sex life for example!

Don't snails self reproduce? I'm sure I've had friends with only one African land snail and ended up with multiple.

His big is his box? If it's large can you fashion him a smaller travel home, like a takeaway tub or something?

Why did you take it in?

We are talking about a snail not a dog or a cat!!!!

Yes it is cruel, therefore she shouldn't of taken him in the first place. It can't be now thrown back!!

Take the snail with you

I don't suppose many people even give that sort of thing a second thought.

I wonder at what size a creature is deemed to not have emotional feelings?

Have you ever seen the video of when someone rescued a bumble bee and it stayed very attached to her - it could have just flown off, but it didn't?

OMG chill out!

😂

Take him with you. I’m sure he’d love to take a holiday with his family. This is such a cute post. Bless you OP 🥰

@AhaLyn Because he looked too small to put out. And I had a 9 year old when I washed the lettuce! I wasn't sure if they e.g. eat only the plant they hatch on when they're babies and by the time I did some investigating, he already had a name.

This!

Although her DSister is a Buddhist, she might prefer having plants to having snails, so she takes them to the park to keep her plants safe.

@SnailTrailtoFreedom oh ok. I don’t know what the answer is, if hdve probably just released once he had the hard shell I guess.

Ahh OP we had a pet garden snail too, my son found him with a broken shell and was devastated so we put him in a case with some cuttlefish/food and waited to see what happened. His shell eventually healed and we had him for 3.5 years in the end so I totally get it 😂

we didn’t really go anywhere for long enough when we had him. I’ve read that snails actually tend to hibernate if they don’t have resources in the wild (not saying that you shouldn’t bother to provide but it might ease your mind that they are fairly hardy!) Could you ask a neighbour to pop in and just spray the cage every few days? Failing that, you can buy automatic misters that might do the job.

@SnailTrailtoFreedom I've tried to pm you. Not sure if it worked.

Or maybe Sheldrick for a little boy snail

Thanks for the pic! Cute. I hope you find someone. We are away, otherwise I’d be offering even though you’re probably miles away.

Where are you OP? I have a DD who loves snails in Sidcup - in fact she is getting a snail tattoo next week.